“You have a brother?” Devin asked with surprise.
“Yeah. For a few weeks he helped, but then he started running with his friends and staying out all night, so… We’re not that close anymore because I don’t approve of his lifestyle.” She shrugged.
“But what does that have to do with us? You’re not the one who robbed the store.”
“After we flew down to LA for Monte’s concert, I realized we could never work. Private planes, superstars… Then there was you. Your career was taking off and when my father was arrested a second time, I knew I didn’t want any of my drama to interfere with your dreams. Then…” She blinked back the tears clouding her vision.
Devin shifted her until she sat across his lap and palmed her face. “Sweetheart, that is not your drama, it’s your father’s. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“How do you tell the man you’ve grown to care about that the woman he’s dating comes from a family of convicts and thieves—?”
He used his thumb to wipe a way the tear that ran down her cheek. “I don’t want to hear it, Vivian. Your father’s choices are not your fault.”
“You don’t understand, Devin. My brother decided to follow in our father’s footsteps, and—”
He cut her off again. “No, Princess. You can’t blame yourself.”
Vivian had to make him understand. There was more she had to tell him, which she knew would change his perception of her, maybe even hate her. Her heart clenched at the thought. She opened her mouth to speak and her cell phone chimed with a text. She dug it out of her shorts pocket and read the message from Mariah. She groaned. “I have to go. I forgot Mariah and I have to meet with the Greens to get the final payment for the flowers.”
“That’s fine. I’m meeting the guys for dinner at seven, but we can talk more tonight. Why don’t you come to my room around nine-thirty?”
“Okay.” She pressed a tender, lingering kiss to his lips and stroked the side of his face. What she wouldn’t give to change their circumstances.
When she got to the room, Mariah was seated on the balcony reading. “Hey. Give me five minutes to change and I’ll be ready.”
“No problem. How did it go with Devin?”
“I didn’t get a chance to finish telling him about why I left him, so I’m going to meet him later tonight.”
“Dawn texted me twenty minutes ago and wanted to know if we were having dinner together. I didn’t respond, but I don’t think I could sit across the table from her and pretend everything is all right.”
“Neither do I,” Vivian said from the bathroom. “But, we’re going to have to deal with her sooner or later. And I’m really not looking forward to it.” Confrontations weren’t her strong suit, which was why she found herself in this predicament with Devin. Had she come clean when it first happened, there might have been a way to salvage their relationship. Now, it was too late.
Vivian took a quick shower and slipped into a sleeveless button down tangerine top and multi-colored long wrap skirt. She brushed her hair, came out and sat on a chair to fasten her sandals.
Mariah came in and placed her book on the dresser. “Ready?”
She stood and walked over to the door. “Yep. Oh, wait. I forgot the survey.” She always had their customers complete a satisfaction survey and used some of the quotes for marketing. “Okay. Let’s go.”
While riding the elevator down, Mariah asked, “Do you think you and Devin will be able to work things out? I feel so bad. Twice I’ve ripped the man’s head off and was wrong on both accounts.”
“I don’t know. It’ll depend on him.”
“Well, he strikes me as a pretty level-headed guy, considering all the yelling we did and he never really raised his voice too much,” she added wryly.
Vivian smiled slightly. “I guess we’ll see.” Her hand went to her stomach unconsciously. Those butterflies were back.
Devin sat out on the beach thinking about what Vivian had told him. That she had escaped her family’s drama to graduate from high school, college and open a business impressed him even more. But, what he couldn’t understand was why she felt that had anything to do with their relationship. True, back then he had been working his way up to one of the lead architect positions—he was the youngest in the firm to move up so quickly—but he didn’t see the connection. Hopefully, they could sort it out later because spending these last two days with her reaffirmed that she was the woman he wanted in his life. He closed his eyes and a smile curved his lips. She wouldn’t be leaving the island for a few days. Devin could be very persuasive when he had to be and planned to show his princess exactly why they belonged together.
He hadn’t realized he’d dozed off until he felt something on his leg. He jerked upright and slapped at a bug then glanced at his watch. His eyes widened when the time revealed that he had been asleep for two hours. The long night had finally caught up with him. He came to his feet and stretched. He had more than enough time to shower and work on a couple of designs before dinner.
Back in his room and freshly showered, Devin slipped into a pair of basketball shorts and pulled out his laptop. He resisted logging onto his work account and scanned his personal emails, instead. He deleted the junk and opened one from his brother, Erik, who was two years older and worked at the Pentagon. Every time one of their family members traveled, Erik took it upon himself to advise them of any potential threats. Thankfully there were none.
Devin smiled when he saw one from his retired educator mother. His parents had relocated to New Mexico a few years ago from San Jose and Devin was the only one in his family who still lived in the city where they were born. When Janae married Terrence and moved to LA, Devin had been left with the responsibility of their family home. They had all agreed to keep the house and rent it out. He clicked on the link and viewed the pictures she had sent from his parents’ visit to Nevada to see his oldest brother, Justin, his wife, Pam and their four-year old daughter Teresa. He hadn’t seen his niece in nearly six months and marveled at how big she had gotten. Now, Janae was expecting and he’d be an uncle again. For a brief moment, he let himself imagine what it would be like to see Vivian’s belly swollen with their child and to cradle his own little boy or girl in his arms. Pushing the image aside, he closed the emails and opened the file with his latest project. Soon he lost himself in the design. His cell phone buzzed and startled him. Devin picked it up and saw a message from his sister.
Janae: Have u found a new girlfriend?
Devin: No, but I did see an old one.
Janae: What?! Who?
Devin: Vivian’s flower shop provided flowers for the wedding.
Janae: Ooh. Keep me posted. BTW ur niece or nephew is getting anxious. Having a few contractions.
Devin: U still have five weeks. Not good. Do I need to come home?
Janae: No! I’m fine. Remember my husband is here…lol.
Devin: I know, but I’ve been taking care of you all your life. Old habits r hard to break.
Janae: I know and I love u. Enjoy ur vacation and I’ll let u know if anything changes J
Devin: Love u too, baby girl.
Devin tossed the cell phone on the desk and frowned, worried about Janae. He knew Terrence wouldn’t let anything happen to her, but she was Devin’s baby sister, his only sister. He and his brothers would be there in a heartbeat if she needed them. Even though she had been married almost two years, he still had a hard time letting go. He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to her or the baby.
His cell buzzed again, this time with a message from Marcel asking if he planned to join them for dinner. It was already five after seven. He sent a message back asking which restaurant. While waiting for a reply, Devin shut down his computer and donned a shirt and his sandals.
Tonight Marcel’s wife and Tony’s sister, Tina, joined the three men for dinner. He enjoyed hanging out with them, but wanted the time to pass quickly so he and Vivian could continue their conversation. He tried not to app
ear anxious, but kept checking his watch. More than once, he glanced up to see Jason’s amused expression. After dinner they invited him to join them for some late night entertainment provided by the resort, but Devin declined and went upstairs to his room to wait for Vivian.
Vivian and Mariah had managed to avoid Dawn all day, but ran into her as they were leaving one of the restaurants after dinner.
“Where have you guys been? I’ve been looking all over for you,” Dawn said. “Didn’t you get my text, Mariah?”
Vivian and Mariah shared a look and Vivian said, “We can talk upstairs.”
Dawn divided her confused gaze between Mariah and Vivian then nodded.
Mariah tended to be the one who always met confrontation head-on, but tonight didn’t utter one word.
As soon as they were in Vivian’s room, Mariah dropped in a chair and folded her arms.
“Can one of you tell me what’s going on?” Dawn asked.
“I saw you at Devin’s door this morning,” Vivian finally said. “How could you do this me? We’re supposed to be friends… sisters.”
“I didn’t go in. We were just talking.”
“Seriously, Dawn? You expect me to believe that? I saw you, Dawn,” she snapped.
“I was only there for a minute and nothing happened. I wouldn’t—”
“Stop lying! Devin had on only a towel and you… you were standing there with your dress wide open. I don’t even want to think about what you did or didn’t have on underneath.” She shook her head. “You know, I thought all your flirting and comments were harmless, but I was wrong.”
“Dawn, you really crossed the lines of sisterhood this time,” Mariah said sadly. “Whether Viv broke up with Devin or not, you shouldn’t have tried coming on to him. And you knew he was still feeling her.”
Dawn heaved a deep sigh. “Look, I admit to flirting with Devin, but I only acted on the vibes he was sending. I didn’t want to say anything, but I saw him late last night around midnight and he asked me to come by. So, maybe you should be asking him about the mixed messages he’s sending,” she added with a smirk.
It was all Vivian could do not to slap the smug look off Dawn’s face. “So, if I called Devin, he’d tell me the same thing?” Before she could comment further, Mariah jumped up, marched across the room and did exactly what Vivian wanted to do.
“You lying, bitch! That man didn’t say one word to you.”
Dawn’s hand flew to her cheek. “What the hell, Mariah? And how do you know? Were you sleeping with him last night?”
“No, but I did,” Vivian chimed in. She strode over to the door and snatched it open. “You need to get the hell out of my room… and out of my life.”
“So, you’re just going to end our friendship over a man?”
Mariah started toward Dawn again with fire in her eyes and Vivian intercepted her. “She’s not worth it, Riah.” Vivian skewered Dawn with a look. “Make no mistake about it, Dawn, I’m not ending our friendship over a man. I’m ending the friendship because I can’t trust you and because you’ve proven that our friendship wasn’t worth anything to you. Now get out.”
“I’ve moved my things in here for tonight,” Mariah said. “I’ll be going downstairs to remove your name from my room first thing in the morning, so if you plan to stay, you’ll be doing it on your own dime and in your own room.”
Dawn stared at them, a mixture of anger, surprise and even some regret evident on her face before she stormed out.
Vivian slammed the door behind her, leaned her forehead against it and let the tears fall. It seemed as if she’d cried more in the last two days than she had in the last two years, and she knew there would be more tears to come. She lifted her head when she felt Mariah’s hand on her shoulder.
Mariah’s tear-stained face mirrored Vivian’s. “I don’t know what to do right now. I feel like I just buried my sister.”
“So do I.”
“What do you want to do now?”
“I’m meeting Devin in a few minutes. I need to tell him the rest. Not sure how much more I can take.”
“Then call him and tell him you’ll meet him tomorrow. Give yourself tonight.”
“No. He’s waited long enough for the truth and I can’t put it off any longer.”
“Well, just know I’ll be here if you need me, but judging from all the sparks flying between you and the way he charged in here earlier demanding to see you, I’d say he still cares a lot about you and will be willing to work things out.”
“I hope so. I’m going to wash my face and get it over with.” Vivian wasn’t too sure she believed that, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Fifteen minutes later, feeling somewhat in control, Vivian knocked on Devin’s door.
Devin took one look at her face, pulled her inside and gathered her in his arms. “What happened, baby?”
Vivian was helpless to stop the tears that cascaded down her face. “I just lost one of my best friends.”
His expression softened in sympathy. “Dawn?”
She nodded and buried her face in his chest.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I know you’ve been friends for a long time.” He stroked her back lovingly and told her that everything would be okay.
They stood there for the longest time and she was in no hurry to leave the shelter of his embrace. At length, her tears stopped. Devin tilted her chin and brought his mouth down on hers. She clung to his shirt and let herself be swept away by the pleasure he aroused in her. The kiss changed from sweet and tender to hot and demanding in an instant and Vivian held him tighter. Needing her hands on his bare skin, she pushed his shirt up and ran her hands up and down his strong chest. She broke the kiss off, helped him pull it up and over his head completely and dropped it on the floor.
He stared down at her with a wicked smile. “If you want that blouse to stay in one piece, I suggest you remove it because if I do it, I’m not going to bother with the buttons.”
Her nipples tightened and her core pulsed. She went to work on the buttons as fast as she could, but obviously she didn’t move fast enough. Before she could blink, he reached out and yanked the fabric apart. The remaining two buttons popped off and scattered across the floor.
He paid no attention to her surprised gasp. “I’ll buy you another one.” He tossed it aside and removed the rest of her clothes with blinding speed.
Her protests died under the onslaught of his mouth and hands until the only sounds coming from her were sounds of pleasure. Vivian pushed him toward the bed and he fell backwards, pulling her on top of him. She traced a path over his tattoo with her finger, and then with her tongue, knowing it would make him lose control. The sound of Devin’s labored breathing magnified in the space and his muscles contracted beneath her touch.
“Viv, baby,” he panted.
He tried to pull her up, but Vivian pushed his hands away and ignored his pleas. She slid down his body, raining kisses over his chest, stopping to circle her tongue around his nipples before continuing past the hard ridges of his abdomen to the edge of the waistband of his shorts. She tugged them, along with his underwear down and off, and his erection sprang free. Holding his gaze, she wrapped her fingers around the base and twirled her tongue around his shaft ending at the tip, repeating the action twice more before taking him deep into her mouth.
Devin swore hoarsely and dropped his head back against the pillows. She sucked him harder and his hands threaded through her hair as his body shuddered and bucked, and his groans grew louder.
Without warning, he jerked upright, flipped her on her back and hooked her legs over his shoulders. Vivian cried out when his mouth clamped down on her core. The hot stroke of his tongue over her clit sent jolts of pleasure coursing through her body and she trembled. He stroked her deeper and feasted like a man indulging in his favorite meal. She moaned and gripped his head to keep him in place as her hips rocked against his mouth.
“Devin,” she
said, gasping for breath. Her thighs involuntarily locked around his head, but he held them apart, bringing her to a blinding orgasm that had her shaking uncontrollably and screaming his name.
He lowered her legs, reached into drawer of the night table, retrieved a condom and quickly rolled it over his thick erection. Devin came back to her and kissed her, his lips moving slowly and sensually over hers, ramping up her desire once again. He changed the intensity of the kiss at the same time he shifted his body and entered her with a driving thrust. She lifted her hips upward to match his fluid movements. His thrusts came faster and faster and their passionate cries bounced off the walls. Vivian raked her nails down his back and flexing buttocks. Each well-placed thrust went deeper and deeper, and touched a part of her that no man had ever reached, not even him. Then she was crying and coming in a dizzying explosion of pleasure.
“Vivian,” Devin whispered, his black velvet voice husky with emotion. He thrust, once, twice, then stiffened and exploded within her with a harsh groan of male satisfaction. He collapsed on top of her. “I love you, Princess.”
“I love you, too.” She prayed it would be enough.
Vivian woke up Sunday morning in a panic. She wasn’t supposed to sleep with Devin a second time. Now, with his confession of love, she was torn between telling him what happened and letting it remain in the past. But, she couldn’t in good conscience rebuild their relationship on a half-truth. She rolled onto her side and debated what to do.
“Mmm, good morning, Princess.” Devin pressed his lips against her shoulder while his hand feathered over her hip and thigh.
Her eyes slid closed with the sweetness of his touch. His erection fit snug against her backside and it took supreme effort not to respond to his subtle movements. “Good morning.”
“I could get used to waking up like this every morning. What about you?” He nuzzled her neck.
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